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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28490196">What He Needs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaoswolf12/pseuds/Chaoswolf12'>Chaoswolf12</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Injuries, Secret Solenoid, beginning of a relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:40:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28490196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaoswolf12/pseuds/Chaoswolf12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sideswipe is always there, providing something that Prowl needs.  And Prowl realizes that what he really needs is Sideswipe.</p>
<p>Secret Solenoid 2020 gift for BlushLouise ^_^</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Prowl/Sideswipe (Transformers)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Secret Solenoid '20-'21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What He Needs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlushLouise/gifts">BlushLouise</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I had such a hard time choosing between the prompts, because i loved them all. (I may just have to write the others anyway XD) But this is the one that my muse leapt on, so here it is! Some pretty fluffy Prowl and Sideswipe love ^_^</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Prowl looked up as someone knocked on his office door, to see Sideswipe leaning in the frame. “Did you need something Sideswipe?”</p>
<p>Sideswipe took that as an invitation to saunter into the office and settle into one of the guest chairs. He leaned back in the chair, but refrained from putting his peds up on the desk. Prowl had scolded him often enough for that act that he had finally learned not to. Or rather, Sideswipe now only did it when he wanted to irk Prowl. “Nope, don’t need anything.”</p>
<p>“Then may I ask what brings you to my office?” Prowl asked, signing off on the report he had just finished reading, encryption locked the datapad and set it aside in a stack for Optimus. He was reaching for another one when Sideswipe answered.</p>
<p>“Well, you are officially off shift- I know this because I heard Jazz mention what time you got off when Bluestreak asked him- and so I decided to come here and pry you away from your reports.”</p>
<p>Prowl paused and checked his chronometer. It was indeed just past the end of shift. He eyed the stack of unfinished reports; it wasn’t very big but he did prefer to have an empty in-box each day.</p>
<p>“Anyway,” Sideswipe continued, “Bluestreak was being all wistful about how he missed you, and hadn’t talked to you in a while. He spent most of his break babbling to Jazz about how this is the first time the two of you have had an off-shift at the same time in over a month and all the things he was hoping the two of you could do together this evening. That is, if you actually managed to stop working on time, because your cousin knows how much work you do for us Autobots.”</p>
<p>For a moment Prowl sat there, Sideswipe’s words tumbling in his head. Then, with a decisive nod, he gathered up his datapads and locked them in the drawer of his desk. “Well, unless you need me for something, which you already said you do not, it sounds like I have plans for this evening,” Prowl said, walking around the desk and gesturing towards the door.</p>
<p>“Sure thing,” Sideswipe said while bouncing up out of the chair and skipping towards the door ahead of Prowl. “Sunny says that Bluestreak is in the rec room if you want to head there, maybe grab a cube before you hang out.” He mentioned nonchalantly, as Prowl entered the lock code in the door’s keypad.</p>
<p>Walking away with a cheery wave, Sideswipe missed the bemused smile Prowl sent after him. He watched the red mech until he turned a corner.  Prowl shook his head, and headed towards the rec room, steps and spark light, already anticipating a fun evening with Bluestreak.</p>
<p>Xxx</p>
<p>Sunstreaker, yellow plates still scuffed from the recently finished skirmish, plunked a cube of energon down on the desk in front of Prowl. “Here,” he grunted, then stood there staring at Prowl expectantly with folded arms.</p>
<p>Prowl looked up from the battle report he was just finished writing and gave the golden twin a return stare. He raised one doorwing (also scuffed from the latest fight) questioningly. “Do you need something Sunstreaker?”</p>
<p>“I need you to drink that energon so Sideswipe will stop poking me every two seconds and shut up about it,” Sunstreaker said, thumping his own chest with a thumb, indicating it was via bond that Sideswipe was pestering him.</p>
<p>Prowl blinked at him, hand suspended mid reach for another datapad. “But Sideswipe is in the medbay. He shouldn’t even be conscious, let alone worrying about getting me energon!” he said, baffled. Sideswipe had fared worse than his twin this last battle, and managed to get injured enough to necessitate Ratchet putting him in stasis before repairs.</p>
<p>Sunstreaker shrugged. “He got around the stasis code I guess. And now the silly fragger won’t leave me alone until you drink that because, and I quote ‘Prowl always overclocks himself after a battle going over all the strategy reports, and he runs himself dry if I’m not there to look after him so you gotta do it for me this time Sunny!’ So here I am, with a cube, waiting for you to drink it so he’ll settle down and let his repairs finish.”</p>
<p>“Oh.” Prowl felt his spark flutter, optics darting away from Sunstreaker’s gaze. They landed on the cube, and now that he really looked he noticed that it had been sprinkled with iron dust and aluminum flakes, just the way he liked it. Picking it up, he took a sip, appreciating the flavor and the fact Sideswipe had obviously told Sunstreaker his favorite additives. He could feel the way his systems perked up even with just that small amount of energy. He really had needed an energon break it appeared. “Tell your brother thank you,” he said as he continued to drink.</p>
<p>“Tell him yourself when he gets out of medbay.”.</p>
<p>“I.. I think I will,” Prowl said, a small smile on his face and his doorwings gently waving as he stared into his cube.</p>
<p>Sunstreaker’s optics softened just a tad. “Good.” And with a nod, he left the office.</p>
<p>xxx</p>
<p>Sitting in the common room was not Prowl’s first choice, but considering his office was currently unavailable due to getting security upgrades and Grapple was fixing a leak in the ceiling of his quarters, he didn’t have any better options. So he had the choice of sitting at a table and doing what non-top secret and low clearance work he could, or doing nothing until one of his rooms was available again for secured work.</p>
<p> Unfortunately, today was not a good day for Prowl. He’d woken up with his sensor net dialed too high- a side effect of his glitch that manifested every so often. It happened when the tac-net demanded environmental input, but the priority got flagged too high because of a conflict with his emotional subroutines.  The result: a sensor-net dialed high enough to hear a whispered conversation two rooms away, and a pounding processor ache. The symptoms lasted until the tac-net’s checks finished or until he went to recharge and initiated a defrag, whichever came first. Additionally, he was more prone to crashing on a day like this because any added stress on his emotions, be it frustration or surprise or pleasure or confusion, could topple his already unbalanced systems.  Normally Prowl would retreat to his office and be (mostly) fine, since the room was far enough away from the bustle of the rest of the Ark that it tended to be quiet, as well as having some extra sound insulation due to security reasons. Or he could stay in his quarters and rest.</p>
<p>But neither was an option today.</p>
<p>The din of talking, music, and TV in the common room made Prowl’s helm throb with every beat of his fuelpump. Even the lights seemed to buzz directly in his head. Mechs a few tables over burst into laughter about something, and Prowl flinched.</p>
<p>He was concentrating so hard on working through the pain that a box being set down on the table made him startle slightly. Looking up, he squinted at Sideswipe as he sat down across from him. Flashing him a smile, Sideswipe didn’t say anything, just carefully up-ended the box and quietly spilled out its contents. It appeared to be a random jumble of oddly shaped plastic pieces. Prowl watched, vaguely confused as his aching processor refused to parse what he was seeing, as  Sideswipe studied the picture of a cityscape on box lid. It wasn’t until the red mech searched through the pile and clicked two pieces together, making a very distinct shape that it clicked for Prowl as well. Prowl’s attention sharpened as he realized it was a replica of a detail on one of the buildings on the cover. Sideswipe was putting together a very complex 3-D puzzle.</p>
<p>Work forgotten, Prowl watched as Sideswipe snapped pieces together. Idly, he began to mentally map the pieces and how they would go together. When Sideswipe paused, obviously unsure which part to use next, Prowl pointed it out. With a grateful smile, Sideswipe grabbed it.</p>
<p>They continued building the little cityscape together. Prowl absently drank a cube of energon that Sideswipe nudged into his hand as he sorted through the pieces looking for the foundations of the next building.</p>
<p>A while later, Sideswipe clicked in the last part, then leaned back in a satisfied stretch. He grinned at Prowl as the Praxian sighed and leaned back as well, smiling. “Well, that was fun. And you look like you are feeling better now,” Sideswipe observed, looking pleased. When Prowl gave him a surprised blink, he explained. “Your doorwings aren’t flinching at every sound anymore, and your optics aren’t as pale now.”</p>
<p>Prowl blinked again at the red mech, startled to find he did indeed feel much better. His sensor-net was no longer so sensitive, though still a little sore. Even his headache was mostly gone. This had to be the shortest amount of time he’d suffered the side-effects ever. Out of curiosity, Prowl accessed the tac-net’s log to find out why it had ceased the environmental scans.</p>
<p>“Oh,” he whispered in surprise when he read the results. The tac-net had stopped scanning because it had narrowed its focus on categorizing and assembling the puzzle! Prowl had tried many times in the past to redirect it on the bad days, but simple data crunching had never been enough. However, the extra processing needed for mapping the miniature cityscape and all its pieces for correct assembly seemed to settle the tac-net, and the physicality of the puzzle gave his sensor-suit it just enough environment and data to focus on without overwhelming everything. Looking up at Sideswipe, he asked “How did you know that would work?”</p>
<p>“Sort of a lucky guess?” Sideswipe answered with a shrug. “I’ve noticed a trend on your bad days- if you hide away or just do datapadwork, you usually still look bad by the end of shift. But if there is a battle or if you have to organize something physically, whether it’s all us silly slaggers or redoing a storage closet, then you usually look better a lot sooner. So I figured maybe a puzzle would work whatever magic it is you need, and I was right.” He ginned at Prowl, looking rather pleased with himself.</p>
<p>“How did I never notice that?” Prowl muttered. He’d tried for millennia to figure out a way to disrupt the tac-net on ‘bad days’ or at least shorten the effects, but never made the connection that Sideswipe had.</p>
<p>“Eh, sometimes you just need a new set of optics on a problem to figure it out,” Sideswipe said, hearing the mutter. He reached over and put a hand on Prowl’s shoulder. “Besides, if you were in as much pain as it looked like, it’s no wonder if you couldn’t think as well as you normally do.”</p>
<p>Prowl’s spark spun in its casing, and he brought his hand up to put it over Sideswipe’s, thumb stroking over his knuckles. “Then thank you, Sideswipe, for taking care of me,” Prowl said, an almost shy smile quirking one corner of his mouth.</p>
<p>Sideswipe’s optics brightened and he turned his hand to capture Prowl’s in his own. He then lifted it between them until he could gently brush a kiss across the back of it. “Anytime, Prowl,” he said with a soft smile that caused Prowl’s spark to leap, “But I suppose I ought to let you get a little work done now, yeah?”</p>
<p>“Oh, yes, I suppose so,” Prowl replied, reluctantly taking his hand back. “Again, thank you.”</p>
<p>Sideswipe winked, and wandered off. Prowl watched him go, before reaching for a datapad. And despite the noise and inconvenience of having to work in the common room, Prowl had a smile on his face the rest of his shift.</p>
<p>xxx</p>
<p>A pattern had emerged, and Prowl realized- Sideswipe always managed to show up whenever Prowl needed something. Whether it was energon, or was a reminder to avoid overworking, or just to hang around for a moment to lift his spark when he was feeling down, Sideswipe was there to provide it.</p>
<p>In response, Prowl couldn’t help but reciprocate. He made sure that Sideswipe’s favorite additives were ordered and well-stocked, and that his off-shift times coordinated better with Sunstreaker’s, and when Sideswipe’s smile took on a sad or forced edge Prowl would  provided the red mech with an excuse to get away from everyone for a bit by claiming he needed Sideswipe for some errand, but really they just sat quietly together in his office.  </p>
<p>More and more of his days were spent with Sideswipe.  Conversations and gentle touches and even a few kisses were exchanged. Prowl’s spark brightened and danced every time. Their affections grew. It was lovely and Prowl enjoyed every moment of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> The next time Prowl’s spark quickened because of Sideswipe wasn’t for any lovely reason.</p>
<p>They were in the middle of a battle. Prowl was at the rear, far from the front line. Bluestreak, Cliffjumper, Mirage, and Hound flanked him. Behind them was an important hydroelectric dam, the current target of the Decepticon’s attack, and the five of them were using their long range weapons to keep the Cons far away. Few made it past the formidable frontliners at any rate, though the battle was a fierce one.</p>
<p>Bluestreak gasped from his vantage point above and behind Prowl, and immediately Prowl surveyed the field.  Vortex broke through their line, flying above the fighting in alt-mode, and was headed right for them. Prowl quickly ordered them to focus fire on the helicopter, but before they could get a shot off a red blur slammed into Vortex’s tail. The impact caused Vortex to spin and lose lift, spiraling down to crash into the dirt right in front of Prowl’s position. The two mechs lay in crumpled heaps, thrown apart by the force of impact.</p>
<p>Prowl was running forward before he realized he’d made the decision. He dropped to his knees beside a groaning Sideswipe, spark pounding in his chest. The red mech was barely conscious, badly dented and bleeding heavily from a deep gash in his side and had a piece of rotorblade impaled through his shoulder joint.</p>
<p>“You idiot,” Prowl gasped, fumbling to get his first aid kit out of subspace. Quickly he pried the rent bit of armor up enough to get to the cut lines and punctured tank underneath, applying clamps and patches where he could. “A heli isn’t a jet! You can’t just Jet-Judo them! They have blades flying in all directions, for Primus’s sake. His tail rotor nearly cut you in half when he went into the spin!”</p>
<p>“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sideswipe groaned, optics flickering as he became more aware. He turned his helm to look up at Prowl. His optics finally focused on the red chevron and worried blue optics above him, and he smiled. Sideswipe glanced over as a shadow fell over them, and his optics widened. He opened his mouth to yell just as a shot rang out.</p>
<p>Prowl spun around to see Vortex fall from where he had loomed behind them. The blaster in the Con’s hand dropped to the ground as he toppled, neck a sparking bleeding ruin. Not an immediately fatal wound, judging by the lack of graying out, but one that severed processor control leaving him paralized until repaired. Prowl looked up at the ridge Bluestreak occupied, unsurprised but grateful to see the wisp of smoke curling from the end of the sniper’s rifle barrel. He saluted Bluestreak with a sweep of his doorwings, then turned back to Sideswipe.</p>
<p>“Let me get you patched up enough to survive Ratchet’s lecture,” Prowl started to say.</p>
<p>“And my brother,” Sideswipe interjected, voice slightly staticky as pain and shock started to set in.</p>
<p>“And your brother’s wrath,” Prowl agreed, with a wry look that softened into something more tender. He looked up as Hound came over to help him carry Sideswipe to a safer spot. “I’ve got to help finish this battle, but we’ll talk in the medbay later, when Ratchet’s done with you.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Sideswipe agreed, with a half-sparked smile, already drifting back into unconsciousness.</p>
<p>Prowl touched the side of Sideswipe’s face and rested his chevron against Sideswipe’s helm for just a moment, before turning back to the fight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later in the medbay, Prowl sat beside Sideswipe’s berth. He had just traded posts with Sunstreaker  who informed him that Sideswipe was recovering fine and had even woken up briefly, but now that Prowl was there Sunny was going to get himself a hot shower, decent wax, and some recharge. Prowl was relieved to hear that Sideswipe was already well, just waiting for welds to finish setting and a final look-over by Ratchet before he would be allowed leave.</p>
<p>As he sat, Prowl traced the lines of Sideswipe’s frame with his optics. Gently he took Sideswipe’s hand in his own. Leaning closer he examined the welds in Sideswipe’s side. He frowned, and tentatively traced around the repaired wound with a finger of the hand not holding Sideswipe’s. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t see Sideswipe’s optics light up until a squeeze of his hand made him look up to see Sideswipe smiling at him.</p>
<p>“Hey Prowl,” Sideswipe said softly, pulling Prowl’s hand up to rest over his spark.</p>
<p>“You worried me,” Prowl blurted, then huffed his vents at Sideswipe’s raised browridges. “My spark almost stopped spinning when you leapt after Vortex, please don’t do that again. I don’t think my spark can take it.”</p>
<p>“Aaaaaw, you care about me,” Sideswipe teased, lifting his other hand to hold Prowl’s in both of his and bring it up to his cheek, giving Prowl a cheesy grin while he nuzzled into his palm.</p>
<p>Prowl stood up and leaned in until his chevron touched Sideswipe’s forehelm, moving his other hand to cup Sideswipe’s handsome face. He looked into wide surprised optics and stated, “Yes. I care about you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you anymore, so please be careful.”</p>
<p>Sideswipe raised a hand to the back of Prowl’s head and held him close. “Back at you, beautiful,” he whispered, before kissing tip of Prowl’s nose, then his mouth.</p>
<p>They were still exchanging kisses when Ratchet came in to check on Sideswipe. The smiles didn’t leave their faces, even as Ratchet shooed Prowl away and turned to scold Sideswipe.</p>
<p>Prowl paused just before leaving the medbay and looked back. His optics met Sideswipe’s, who was still watching him. With a smile and a wave, the Praxian headed to his quarters with doorwings waving happily and spark spinning giddily. Because now he knew that Sideswipe would always be there for him, and just like he would be there for Sideswipe.</p>
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